Israel's equity market ended Thursday's session with a noticeable pullback, as the TA 35 index closed down 1.02%. Weakness in Financials, Insurance and Banking stocks was a key driver of the decline at the Tel Aviv exchange.
Top movers on the index
Among the TA 35 constituents, Next Vision Stabilized Systems (TASE:NXSN) led gains, jumping 10.14% - an increase of 2,800.00 points - to finish at 30,400.00. Elbit Systems Ltd (TASE:ESLT) also outperformed, rising 5.95% or 13,880.00 points to close at 247,000.00. Bezeq Israeli Telecommunication Corp Ltd (TASE:BEZQ) added 2.18% or 17.30 points, ending the day at 809.30.
Largest decliners
On the downside, Dimri (TASE:DIMRI) posted the largest loss on the index, falling 6.17% or 2,510.00 points to 38,200.00 at the close. Phoenix Holdings Ltd (TASE:PHOE) dropped 4.90% or 940.00 points to finish at 18,250.00, while OPC Energy Ltd (TASE:OPCE) declined 3.55% or 480.00 points to 13,040.00.
Market breadth favored declines, with falling stocks outnumbering advancers by 257 to 208. An additional 86 issues ended the session unchanged on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.
Commodities and currency moves
Commodity futures showed upward movement during the session. Crude oil for July delivery was up 0.98% or 0.87 to $89.55 a barrel. Brent crude for August delivery rose 1.12% or 1.03 to $93.28 a barrel. The August Gold Futures contract advanced 0.43% or 19.22 to trade at $4,500.72 a troy ounce.
On the currency front, the Israeli shekel was mixed against major currencies. USD/ILS was essentially unchanged, moving 0.08% to 2.82, while EUR/ILS rose 0.21% to 3.29. The US Dollar Index Futures declined 0.14% to 99.01.
The session painted a picture of selective strength amid broader weakness: a handful of large-cap names posted meaningful gains while a larger group of financial and insurance-related stocks pressured the benchmark lower. Trading signals from commodities and currency markets were modestly supportive of higher energy and gold prices during the same period.